Russell James Bio

Born in the south of England Russell spent most of his teens and early to mid 20s working in various jobs such as fast food restaurants, manager in a supermarket and as a driving instructor.

It wasn’t until the age of 28 in 2004 when he was in Koh Samui, Thailand, doing a fast to clear up the skin problem that had developed during his time at the fast food restaurant that he discovered raw food.

He quickly got excited about the vibrancy and creativity of raw foods and the health benefits they bring. Spurred on by the fact that he’d never heard of raw food and with a desire to bring it into mainstream awareness in a way that is fun and modern, he set about following his passion, at first as a hobby.

Whilst posting pictures of his food on his blog people started to notice and comment on how great his food looked. Russell discovered techniques and a natural ability to create beautiful raw recipes from widely available ingredients and started teaching people in his local area. News spread and Russell soon found himself teaching people from all over the UK and even people from other countries in Europe and the US, who would travel to come and be taught by him.

It quickly became clear to Russell that his passion was to bring raw foods to anyone that was excited about it and needed the technical knowledge to make it work.

Russell has taught thousands of people world-wide about raw foods, both through his blog, live classes and his recently released homestudy DVD course.

He is currently guest instructor in residence at 105degrees in Oklahoma City, USA.

As well as his instruction at 105degrees he continues to inspire people through his website, blog and eZine.

Russell’s passion is to show you that far from feeling restricted on a raw food diet you have an abundance of options, whether that being eating raw sandwiches all week or putting on a show-stopping dinner party for friends.

“Russell James is a true professional; talented and creative, and a pleasure to work with. I particularly admire his dedication to raw food cuisine, and his unwavering interest in its forward movement.”

– Matthew Kenney
www.matthewkenneycuisine.com

“I was very impressed with Russell James’ raw and living foods cuisine. He’s a pleasure to work with and a rising culinary star.”

- David Wolfe
www.TheBestDayEver.com

From Russell

I first came across raw foods in Koh Samui, Thailand, when I was on a 7 day detox fast a a spa there. I was on day 5 of the fast and can remember sitting in the beach-side restaurant reading a raw recipe book from their library.

Now, it may have been the fact that I hadn’t eaten for 5 days but I was amazed by the recipes in there. One that particularly grabbed my attention was simply mango and avocado mixed together. It’s strange but I was really blown away that you could do that with mangoes and avos! I read a description in that book of what raw food is and why it is beneficial, it made so much sense and I had one of those life-defining moments, an epiphany.

From that moment on I was hooked, when I got home I went straight for the organic section at my local supermarket. I was already into juicing before I went to Samui, and to be honest I still think juicing is one of the best entry points to a healthier lifestyle. That was in 2004 and in that same 12 months I went back a further 2 times. Samui will always hold a special place in my heart since it was there that I not only decided to eat raw but also that I realised I wanted to bring this food to others as a raw chef.

I started reading books on raw food and getting all the information I could. I actually started to get a bit overwhelmed and had to chill out a bit. It was at that time I was taking some serious abuse from people about how much weight I was losing and how stupid I was for spending all my money on organic food. This was from people that would spend double my weekly food bill on beer on a Saturday night out. Have you ever noticed that when you try to make a change for the better in your life there’s an abundance of people ready to tell you why you shouldn’t do it?

The people I worked with at the time actually thought I had an eating disorder, they said that I was losing too much weight and in between mouthfuls of pizza and chips would tell me how they thought I wasn’t getting all the nutrients my body needed. I found it incredible that they could be so concerned about me but not even think twice about what they were putting into their own mouths.

you should have seen the circus that formed when I brought in the raw burgers

Lunch times at work became ‘question time with Russell’, I would get asked on a daily basis, “what the hell have you got today?” That was when I was taking in a salad, you should have seen the circus that formed when I brought in the raw burgers.

I knew I was onto something from the way I felt and looked so I just kept on doing it. I started eating my lunch outside, in the car by the harbour or anywhere that meant I could just eat in peace. That actually didn’t help much because no one ever saw me eat which made them think that I’d given up food completely! It’s so funny now I look back on it.

I’m not around those people regularly anymore but once they realised I wasn’t going through a phase and wasn’t going to ‘change back’ some of them actually started to accept it and even told me how they respected me for it, that was a great feeling.

It’s at that point that you’re expected to be perfect. I was nearly arrested by the Food Police several times for crimes against healthy eating (I think I was ‘caught’ in the staff restaurant eating a salad with mayo on one occasion and eating a sandwich on another) and regularly heard, “but you’re not allowed that are you?”

I just kept going and fuelled myself, not just on the food, but on fascinating stories I heard about people eating raw and finding that wonderful synchronistic events would happen that took them closer to the life they wanted to live. I’ve always been interested in success and improving myself to have all the things and experiences I dream about, so I decided it would be a great experiment to see what happens.

finding that wonderful synchronistic events would happen

I continued to attend whatever raw food classes were available whilst also teaching myself everything I could about raw food preparation. It was during this time that I had an email from The Fresh Network (the UK’s raw and living food organisation) waiting for me, inviting me to work with them to create some ‘raw goings-on’. That offer lead to me moving to Cambridgeshire and being part of the hugely successful Fresh Network Raw Dinner Parties. From there I haven’t looked back; traveling the world, training doing classes, meeting wonderful people, teaching everything I can about the lifestyle I love so much whilst always remaining a student.

My Motivation

After discovering raw food and the benefits it can have on my health and the way I look and feel, my immediate desire was to bring it to as many people as possible.

I was also shocked how strongly people reacted to my decision to eat this way.

My motivation to become a raw chef was born out of my experiences when ‘going raw’. I love eating out and I love socialising but there seemed to be very few options for doing either of these when living this lifestyle. I was also shocked how strongly people reacted to my decision to eat this way.

I also have a desire to provide food and recipes that really showcase raw food and all the amazing textures and flavours that can be created. It really is the ultimate way of eating dairy free, gluten free, no refined sugars or salts and list goes on…

Thanks for visiting and I hope you find something to inspire and help you.